Trapped in your Arms
by therecklessdoll
Summary: Lily and James are elected to compete in the Golden Wizards challenge this year at Hogwarts. With new students, love and rivalry, will James and Lily realize their attraction for each other in time to win? R&R please. Rated M for possible lemons.
1. The Selected Students

**Author's Note:**

**Hey! This story was a way of passing a few days of my summer holidays =) It's a Lily/James fanfic, and it's all very new to me, so bear with it. I normally write twilight fics, so there you go. The idea came to me while I was spending a very boring three hours on my flight to Spain, where I am now, until late August. So, enjoy, read and review!**

**XxMissJacobxX**

**P.S. Sorry Bitterbeginnings, I know you would have loved to edit it, hehe. But I know you're on your holidays too!**

**Disclaimer: Most of the characters in the story belongs to the marvelous JK Rowling. I'm not her, sadly ;)**

* * *

**The Selected Students**

_Dear Year Sevens, _

_After a few meetings in between your headmaster and the ministry for magic, and it has been decided that this year Hogwarts will be holding the seventh __**Golden Wizards**__ contest this year. The contest is in order to find the most powerful male and female youngsters that will be given an opportunity to become Aurors in the near future. Any year seven willing to compete must fill in the form given below, complete with a signature of a parent or guardian. The contest will consist of three tasks, much like the Triwizard Tournament, that will test skill, courage, knowledge and logic. There will be two wizards chosen from each school for the contest, one male and one female, and these will complete each task. The other schools competing already have their students chosen, and are in the list below. We hope the contest will both unite the schools competing and help the contestants gain skills they will need in later life._

_Students chosen from competing schools:_

_Beauxbatons:_

_Remi Bagot_

_Anne Lacroix_

_Durmstrang:_

_Iván Stanka_

_Ana Stanka_

_Azores Institute:_

_Yarra Lagos_

_Davi Mendes_

* * *

"Hey James!" cried out a familiar voice, ringing out through the grounds for all the students to hear.

It was the first Sunday afternoon since school had started and everyone was relaxing in the sunshine outside. James removed a few strands of hair from his eyes and looked up to see who it was.

"Hey Padfoot, Moony" he smiled. He loved being with his best friends.

"Angela over there keeps bugging me about whether or not you are going to enter the Golden Wizard Contest. I think she said something about you two being chosen together or something" Sirius said in a mock voice, sitting down beside him on the grass.

"But you guys know I already entered, right?" James asked curiously

"Yes, we do" Remus answered with a smile, "but somehow Padfoot here doesn't seem to understand this"

"I do too! I just think its funny how all the chicks at this school think you're going to end up being chosen as the male Hogwarts contestant."

"We'll see tonight, wont we?" James said.

Tonight was the day that McGonagall would be announcing the two contestants from Hogwarts for the Golden Wizards Contest. James really wished he would be chosen, it had always been a dream of his to be an Auror. As confident as everyone was that he would be chosen, he wasn't so sure of it himself. He had heard the other day that Thane Hatcher, a complete moron from Slytherin who hated James had a high chance of getting chosen, since his dad knew the judges. The thought had been nagging him all afternoon. What would people think of the Marauders, if he wasn't chosen?

The Marauders consisted of a group of childish, funny, intelligent, adventurous and scandalous seventh year boys. Everyone longed to be part of their group. There was Sirius Black, with his flirtatious smile and gorgeous looks that made all the girls swoon, James Potter, who was Quidditch captain and an equal flirt, Remus Lupin, with his patient and friendly personality, and Peter, who no-one knew why he was included, since he had nothing special about him, apart from his being friends with the Marauders. The Marauders ruled the school, and everyone knew it. They were never seen without each other, and were always smiling and always happy. James knew he had to be chosen, if he wanted to stay on top.

James stretched and got to his feet, he couldn't wait any longer.

"Let's get going, I think the feast will start soon"

"Not until another hour, Prongs" Remus said.

"But we could get going, I'm sure there's no problem if we just-"

"James, I know you want to know who got the place but you're going to have to wait"

"But I really-"James moaned, impatiently bouncing on his feet.

"Anne Lacroix…" Sirius muttered all of a sudden.

Remus and James stopped their bickering and turned towards Sirius.

"What?" they asked in unison

"I bet she's hot. I read the list of the other contestants and Anne sounded very hot to me. I like French girls."

"You like every single girl you meet, Sirius" James said, laughing at his friend.

"But this one is special" he defended.

"You haven't met her yet!" Remus exclaimed.

"So?" Sirius raised his eyebrows and licked his lips in a sexy-looking way.

"We all know you don't care about that Padfoot. Look at all those girls you bring to our dormitory when we go to Hogsmeade" Lupin said with a smile.

Sirius tried to deny it but since it was the truth, he just shrugged and gave a slight smile.

"Speaking of Hogsmeade, we need to get some Firewhisky for the common room party we're having tonight, if, that is, you get the place in the contest"

"Just use the kitchens" James suggested, "The elves are sure to have some"

He was feeling worse each minute, since he was now positive he wouldn't be chosen. He had never wanted anything more in his life. Well, he had, but that thing was impossible. Lily Evans would never go out with him. She hated him.

James sneaked a glance at her; she was sitting a few meters from him, next to the lake, reading a book.

"Can we go now?" he asked Remus.

Remus followed James' gaze and understood why he wanted to leave.

"Okay, we can zip down to the kitchens quickly before the feast"

"Fine by me" Sirius agreed, and so they all sat up and began their walk towards the castle doors.

* * *

Lily Evans wove through the crowd of students near the door, looking for her best friends Heather and Anne. They had promised to meet before entering the feast but Lily hadn't expected so many people would be doing the same thing. Everyone was out here and not inside. It seemed as if they were scared to enter the Great Hall and find out the winners. She was not particularly worried herself, for she knew there were many other choices in life apart from being an Auror.

From behind her, an arm appeared and linked itself with Lily's. It was Heather. A petite brunette with baby blue eyes, many would take her as a joke or look at her as something you would want to hug, but these people were completely off track. Heather was muggle-born and had attended Karate classes since she was three, and had a feisty temper. Lily loved Heather for all of these things, but was always careful to avoid getting on Heathers bad side.

"Hey Lil" Heather said with a smile, "Lets find Anne, she was with me a second ago but she went off to flirt with Hugo"

"Typical" Lily smirked, but at spotting her friend in lip-lock with Hugo Rogers, Ravenclaw Quidditch captain and seventh-year hottie, she aimed a thumb up in her direction.

"Let's just head inside to sit down and let her join us later" Heather suggested, knowing that her friend was always late to any type of meeting because she was a total flirt who could never get enough of any guy.

The great hall was decorated with large, shiny banners that had the words "Youngest Golden Wizards Challenge" inscribed upon them in flashing gold letters. The five YGWC (Youngest Golden Wizards Challenge) judges and representatives were seated on a table that had been added near the front of the headmaster's chair, each smiling warmly as the students hurried into the hall impatiently.

Lily walked over to sit near the end of the Gryffindor table, were there was no-one sitting yet, but Heather grabbed her arm and sat next to the Marauders, who were laughing at some joke that Remus had just told.

They ceased laughing as soon as they saw them. Remus immediately put his arm around Heather. The two of them had been going out since the 5th year and it was sickening, how perfect they were for each other. Heather loved him though, so Lily didn't ever point out how obvious it was that Remus was a werewolf. She often wondered if Heather even knew about this.

"Hey Heather, Lily" Sirius said casually, while winking at some Slytherin first years who were passing by.

"Hi" said Heather

"Hey" Lily responded, smiling.

Lily felt really awkward, all of a sudden, because Potter was at the table.

"So who do you think is going to be chosen?" Remus asked Heather in an interested voice.

"Well I heard Thane had a chance," Lily said, "But Remus, you have a much higher chance than him".

She hoped her voice didn't sound too wobbly, because that was exactly what her insides felt like

"We think it will be James and Lily here" Sirius said with a wink in Lily's direction.

Lily scowled and James pulled a face of utter disgust.

"That's not true!" James said in his defense.

"I would rather be with the giant squid than with Potter" Lily said with a disgusted voice.

"Well it's strange, I bet that most girls in this school would love to be with me" James said, in a boastful voice.

Sirius and Peter whistled at James' courage and Remus flinched a bit, because he knew that that comment was way out of order. But Lily was fuming. She couldn't stand Potter. He was a stupid, attention-seeking, arrogant, childish, immature boy who couldn't be more than five minutes without looking at himself in the mirror or running his hands through his hair or playing with his snitch to attract attention. Lily couldn't think of a comeback so she glared at Potter and quickly turned her attention to the YGWC judges, who were motioning for silence so that they could speak. Finally, the great hall was silent; as the last students hurried in and got onto their seats (Anne sitting on Lily's left).

The first of the four judges was female, slightly chubby with long reddish-brown hair, which was shoulder length and curly. She cleared her throat and began:

"Welcome, students, to the choosing of the Hogwarts contestants for the competition. I know you are all very excited and anxious to see if it is indeed you who has been selected, and we are also much honored to present the names of the elected students. Before we do so, of course, I would like to let Mr. Selwyn to give a few words" The woman beckoned to a small man sitting on her right, who was wearing a pair of spectacles and carrying a cane. Most students in the hall had been listening closely the last few seconds, but as Mr. Selwyn stood up many lost interest. Lily heard whispers across the table but she chose to ignore them and kept listening.

"Thank you for allowing me to give my opinion and words before the elected are chosen. This whole last week we have been watching the youngsters that entered and grading them on social skills, helpfulness, character, skills…" Mr. Selwyn began

Lilly couldn't ignore the whispers anymore; they were much more interesting than the speech.

"..could you be so mean to poor Lily?" Remus' voice traveled across the table to Lily's ear, she had already given up on Mr. Selwyn's speech.

"…she will never go out with you now" Sirius voice whispered

"Not that she ever was going to"

She felt the Marauders' glance in her direction but she kept staring fixedly at Mr. Selwyn.

"…Give it up, James, its useless now. She hates you anyway."

"I don't care, she's a cold-hearted bitch and I have no idea what I ever saw in her" James' voice answered, "She never does anything and she never has any fun. I don't understand how she has any friends"

Lily stifled a gasp. How could Potter say such things? Now, the anger was excruciatingly painful. How _could _that bastard say things like that? If he had something to say, he should say it to her face, and not when he thought she wasn't listening. But more than anything, she was hurt. She couldn't believe that the one of the marauders, the most popular people in school, thought such things of her. And why did she mind what they thought so much? From now on, she would choose too ignore the childish Potter. This was it.

Applause broke out through the great hall, and Lily realized Selwyn had finished his speech. She clapped too, pretending she was perfectly fine, and that no part of her body wanted to turn around and hex Potter into oblivion.

"And without further ado, I shall read off the male and female students who have been chosen for the competition." The Woman was speaking again, pulling out a scroll of paper, "The male contestant is-" she paused for effect, leaving the great hall in complete silence, "Potter, James".

All of the Gryffindors broke into applause and cat-calls, and shouts of glee. The marauders started a chant of "Potter, Potter" and the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joined in. Lily was one of the only ones who wasn't celebrating the fact that one of the most popular guys in school had won. She just slouched low in her chair. Potter? That freak? He had no ounce of skill in his bones, and certainly no _helpfulness_! She only pitied the girl who would be elected next. Of course, it wouldn't be her, it couldn't be Lily, because that would be a death sentence. Working with Potter? They would come out last in the competition.

Yet as the woman judge called for silence again and pulled out a second piece of parchment to announce the second name, (and as Lily watched all the girls in her year leaning forwards in their seats in anticipation) she crossed her fingers and wished on all she had that it wouldn't be her name that was chosen.

"And the female Hogwarts contestant is…"

Lily knew it wasn't going to be her, it couldn't be her, and it shouldn't be her.

"Evans, Lily"

And as the Gryffindors once more broke out into cheers of glee, no-one heard Lily and James's screams of fury and disgust, or saw James bang his fist against the table in anger, or observed as Lily toppled her glass of water over the tablecloth, making Anne and Heather all wet.

* * *

**That's it for now, I'll have another update next week sometime. RR, please! Thanks.**

**XxMissJacobxX**


	2. Dinner Kisses and Jealous Witches

**Author's Note:**

**Hi again. So, I know many of you have added the story to your alert lists and stuff, but I have only gotten one review. Many thanks to _Jenny129,_ who submitted it, the very first review to the story! Yay! I can assure you it really brightened my day, and I am very happy for that. I have been busy over the last few days but since I have a friend staying over for the next week I decided to update now, since I wont be able to when my friend is over. This chapter is a bit of a filler but you do get an insight of the friendship between Anne, Heather and Lily. But this chapter is still very exciting! For me, anyways! I'm very eXcItAbLe O.o!!!!**

**And the next chapter is even more exciting! YAAAY.**

**Anyways, as always, hope you enjoy, and please, please REVIEW! It makes me happy :) Thanks,**

**XxMissJacobxX**

**Disclaimer: Of course I didn't invent the Harry Potter world, that was JK Rowling! I would love to have done so, though.**

* * *

James woke up on Sunday morning in a very bad mood. Yesterday had not exactly been his polished-perfect Saturday. As if the small fight he and Lily had had before their names were called out as the contestants wasn't enough, another three fights had occurred after dinner in the common room. Lily had accused him of being a stuck up Quidditch jerk, and he had accused her of much worse. And after all the shouting and yelling, James was exhausted and in need of sleep. And it didn't help that Remus and Sirius were poking him and throwing chocolate frogs and pillows at his face.

"Cut it out!" he grumbled into his own pillow, swatting them away as if they were flies.

They kept on hitting James. One chocolate frog hit James' head and bounced off elsewhere. Sirius and Remus' laughter erupted suddenly as they watched James expression change from a confused annoyance to a deep scowl,

"I'm going to set a couple of Tebo's on you two if you don't stop!"

"What the hell is a Tebo?" Sirius laughed.

Remus grinned, "A Tebo is a creature that you normally find-" he stopped talking as soon as Sirius threw a pillow in his face. Remus cursed and started attacking Sirius once more, just to receive another hit. He fell to the ground in mock humour, feigning injury.

Recovering from the blow he had just received, Remus addressed his friend: "James, you've got to go meet the rest of the contestants in half an hour. I mean, from the other schools. McGonagall told me yesterday after you won but I forgot to mention it" Remus said sheepishly.

"Shit!" James yelled, "I'm going to be late and it's your entire fault!" He picked up a pillow and banged Sirius on the head with it.

"Ow!" Sirius whined, "It's not our fault that you and your future wife hate each other"

James aimed another hit at Sirius and missed this time, because Sirius jumped out of the way with a smile on his face.

"She's not my future wife!" James insisted

"You only wish she was" Sirius said

James hit him again, but this time, much harder.

"Remus back me up here!" Sirius whined, pouting with a puppy-dog look on his face.

"Sorry, but I don't want to be hit with that pillow, Prongs looks extremely vicious today," Remus said with a grin.

"_Traitor_!" Sirius yelled in a mock voice

"That's right" James said, while looking for his robes. He found them were he'd left them last night, crumpled up in a corner. Quickly pulling them on, he turned to Remus.

"Where am I supposed to meet everyone?"

"In the transfiguration classroom"

"I better get going then" he said, and with a quick glance in the mirror, he left.

He wasn't so sure why he felt so miserable. Maybe he could try to be curt and polite and friendly with Lily today. They could try to make friends. What was the point, really? She hated his guts. He hated hers. But he would try, for his own sake. It wasn't everyday a girl like Lily walked into his life.

* * *

Sirius, Peter, Remus, Anne and Heather were sitting at dinner later on that day, discussing the last night events and wondering whether Lily and James would ever be able to work together on each of the tasks they would be given soon. Well, Anne, Peter and Sirius were, Heather and Remus, on the other hand, were completely _going at it _in front of everyone, knocking over Anne's orange juice in the process.

"Hey guys," James greeted, sitting down at the table by Sirius, "I see someone's busy today" he added, noting Remus' one on one activities with Heather.

"They've been like this all morning" Peter said, glancing in their direction.

"I don't think they even realize we are talking about them," Sirius joked, adding some more bacon onto his plate, "So how was the meeting, Prongs?"

"The usual. They explained the rules to all of us, and then gave us some time to mingle with the other contestants. They all arrived this morning. I only really talked to one, she's called Yarra, and she's pretty cute"

"Oooh, I call her!" Sirius yelled suddenly.

Anne laughed, "You can't just **call** girls, Sirius"

"They seem to like it when I do that though" Sirius stated, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"I think we all know that, Sirius" James said, "We hear what goes on when you bring those poor girls into our rooms"

Anne and Peter laughed

"So where are the contestants staying?" Sirius asked.

"They all have rooms somewhere in this castle, right?" Anne asked James.

"Yeah"

"Then how come no-one has seen them yet, I mean, I think we'd notice if they were eating in the great hall, right?"

James smiled knowingly, "It's a Golden Wizards tradition. You guys," he pointed at the people in the great hall, "don't meet them until the first task has started."

"That sucks!" Sirius moaned, "I have a necessary need to meet my future friends!"

"Friends?" James asked, "I thought you had called those girls as girlfriends."

"I meant FWB"

James grinned at Sirius' comment. "Nice".

"What's FWB?" Anne asked, curious.

"Guy stuff" James said

"Tell me!" Anne insisted, a smile creeping up on her gorgeous face.

"FWB. Friends with Benefits" Peter cleared out.

Sirius winked as the rest of them laughed.

"They also told us when the first task will be" James explained after stifling one last laugh, "It'll be in the grounds, next week-end. They will be testing our partnership-" (Sirius laughed at the idea of James and Lily getting along), "and our abilities to deal with finding things. I'm guessing we'll have to search for something in a given time" James shrugged.

"That sounds fun" Anne commented, watching as Remus placed his hand a little lower down Heathers' leg. Sirius watched his friend with a grin.

Sirius wolf-whistled. James chuckled.

"I can't believe our little Moony is finally getting it" Sirius said.

"He's had lots of girlfriends before" Anne pointed out.

"But he's never made out with them in full daylight," Peter squeaked, "normally he's too caught up with his prefect business".

"True" Sirius nodded.

"So is Lily still mad at you?" Sirius asked, changing the topic a bit.

"Yes" James sighed.

James tried to join the conversation but his mind was too fixed on how Lily had ignored him throughout the whole meeting. He had even tried to get her a drink from the refreshments table but she had just walked and got one herself. He knew she was angry at him, so was he, she was still the same girl as she had been yesterday. But he really didn't think he could take any more fights, because they were just so exhausting. He and Lily already had a reputation around school for not standing the sight of each other.

"She has every right to be mad" Anne pointed out

Peter, James and Sirius turned their heads in her direction.

"Well," Anne continued, "It's not like you were exactly nice to her. I heard you guys whispering about her during the speech, and I'm pretty sure Lily did too, but she doesn't show it."

James suddenly felt realization sink in as he realized why Lily had been acting so mad

Heather, who was still busy kissing her precious boyfriend, paused for a second to listen to the others conversation. She seemed to have come to her senses as soon as someone had mentioned her best friends' name.

. James just shrugged, "I was just telling the truth. It isn't exactly a lie that she's an uptight, bossy know-it-all that has no friends and no life. She can't insult me, on the other hand. I'm Quidditch captain, good looking and I have-".

Heather didn't look pleased at what he had just said. Not pleased at all. Struggling to be unleashed from Remus' grasp, she murmured angrily:

"I love Lily, Potter. I normally don't have a problem with you but now you're taking it too far."

"Mind your own business, won't you?" James started.

"Come on Heather, we do like Lily, it's just Potter here has a problem with her, not me and Remus and Peter!" Sirius interjected.

Heather had already struggled out of Remus' lap and was towering over Potter now.

"Tell Potter to stop being such a self-centred bastard!" she yelled, grabbing Anne's hand, "Let's go!" she yelled at her friend, yanking her out of her seat

"But, Heather" Remus moaned, reaching for her out of reach arm, "Stay"

"James was going at Lily again" Heather explained to him, it seemed he hadn't caught on.

"Oh" comprehension dawned on Remus' face, "I'll see you later hon'"

As Heather charged out of the great hall with Anne at her tail, she exhaled air angrily. She looked furious.

"How can that bastard be such an idiot and not watch what he says? If it weren't for Remus I wouldn't even hang out with the Marauders!"

"Potter's okay, Heather"

"We all know you fancy him, Anne, no matter how well you hide it"

"I do NOT!" Anne swore defensively.

"Do too"

"Do not"

"DO"

"NOT"

"DO"

Anne blurted out, as if thinking of an excuse, "He insults my best friends, Heath!"

"I know, Anne! Then how could you fancy him?"

"It's just that- he's an outright bastard, I know, but he's- _James Potter_" Anne winked, "And you know what the Potter's do to me" she giggled

Heather _did_ know. Anne had been in a relationship with two of the three Potter brothers, and the only one left to date James. Jason had graduated from Hogwarts last year, and Roger had done so two years ago.

"Lily will murder you" Heather stated matter-of-factly. The thing was, Heather didn't exactly hate Potter. She just knew that somewhere deep down, Lily Evans and James Potter would make the greatest couple. And she didn't like the fact that Lily's so-called friend Anne fancied him. Whatever Anne wanted, she got, no matter what. Was it because of her beautiful looks? All that golden billowing hair must have _some_ use. And Anne's piercing baby blue eyes? They could hypnotize most any boy at this school. Heather felt safe in just knowing Anne didn't have any particular interest in Remus. Heather was happy with him, and no way was anyone taking her happiness away. She only wished Lily could have the same gorgeous happiness for herself.

"So I won't tell her then" Anne replied, as if it was the simplest thing ever.

Heather sent a glare in Anne's direction.

Anne and Heather had approached the portrait of the fat lady. Heather muttered, "Lacewings" and watched as the portrait swung forward to reveal a medium sized hole. They scrambled through, and headed straight for the girl by the fireplace with the furious red hair and light green eyes.

* * *

Lily glanced up from her Potions essay as soon as her two best friends dropped their bags beside her and took the empty armchairs. They had a look of awkwardness among them that quickly alerted Lily that obviously something was wrong.

"What happened?" Lily asked, resting her silver quill down and tucking a loose strand of copper hair behind her ear.

"Nothing" Anne responded, and while Lily bent to pick up her quill again, she missed the hateful glare that Heather shot at Anne.

"I think that what Anne wants to say is that-" Heather started, defiantly, but stopped in mid-sentence once she saw the counter-glare shot in her very own direction.

"So tomorrow I learn what the first task is going to be, so I can be able to prepare." Lily commented, oblivious to the sudden tension.

"I know, Sirius and James told me, the task is next week-end, right?" Anne chattered away as if nothing was wrong.

"Yes. But tomorrow," Lily paused, "I have to prepare, plan and study for the task," she frowned, "for two hours".

"At least you get to miss class. I'll be in Transfiguration or History of Magic or something" Anne sighed in jealousy, "You are so luck-"

"But I have to plan everything with _Potter_", Lily grumbled in disgust.

Anne seemed a bit annoyed when Lily mentioned Potter, and Lily was glad to think that her best friend also thought Potter was a jerk. Well, I mean. He _was_ a jerk. The worst jerk, even.

Heather smiled. "Well I think her working with Potter is a great idea!"

Anne, instead, grimaced. "If you're uncomfortable with him, Lily, then I could join you" Lily was surprised at the willingness to help Anne had suddenly gained. Normally Heather was the more helpful one.

"You would do that? For me? Awe, Anne, I love you"

Lily bent forwards to hug Anne fiercely. It was unusual to have Anne volunteer to help, and Lily knew she was the best friend she could ask for. Anne seemed to be excited; her twinkling blue eyes were alight with joy and happiness.

"Yes, yes, and help Potter- I mean help you and Potter- plan".

Lily grinned, "Thanks".

Heather pointed out the obvious, "You have classes Anne!", hoping Anne would remember and change her mind.

"I can arrange that" Anne said with a small smile on her lips.

Anne stood up, tall and graceful, tossing her blonde hair behind her back in a simple flick of her wrist. Had Lily tried this, or Heather, their hair would have tangled into knots instantly. But no, not for Anne. Anne's hair would always stay perfectly in place. Anne was perfect and beautiful in every single way, and she had everything Lily had always envied in a girl. But hey, they were best friends. And supporting each other was what best friends were for, right? And after all, it wasn't as if anyone would ever hear Lily complain.

* * *

**Authors note: Please click the little button and reviewww!!! Please!! ----**


	3. Thrown Out

**A/N:** Hey! I know I said I wouldn't update until next week but I just couldn't help myself! I love this chapter, and it was extremely fun to write. It's all in Lily's Point of View, I don't know which POV you prefer, but oh well. Two reviews already! Woo! Please do review, though, I would really like it =)

As always, enjoy, and please review because I did really put a lot of effort into writing this!

Love,

XxMiss JacobxX

**Disclaimer:** Yep, this Harry Potter world isn't mine. Oh well, you cannot always have everything. I love you JK Rowling!

* * *

Mondays were always the most tiresome day of the week for seventh-years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most students hated the thought of a whole week of classes ahead of them, with no breaks or rests until the upcoming week-end. This Monday was the second since the start of this new school year at Hogwarts, and one of the countless Mondays Lily had spent at the very same school. However, this Monday was about to turn out into one of Lily's most miserable Mondays yet.

As Lily walked to the empty Potions dungeon where she would learn what the upcoming task would be, she couldn't help wondering whether or not she was strong enough to be a single day without insulting or yelling at Potter. She was certain she wouldn't last long. What wasn't there to insult? Lily tried hard to remember a time when she didn't hate him. Lily recalled the day she had first met James Potter.

_A smaller Lily Evans was sitting in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express. She was wearing __a muggle outfit: a white ruffled blouse that used to belong to her older sister, Petunia, a black skirt and a milk blue cardigan that she had received from her grandfather. She was feeling extremely lonely because all the other new children had made friends already. They all knew so much more magic than her, being from Wizarding families. They would make fun of her and tease her, and she would be miserable and alone. She wanted to go home._

_Three boys barged into her compartment. One of the three, looking slightly nervous and sweaty, stepped forward, separating himself from the other two and said, "Hi, I'm James". He had jet-black, messy hair and was wearing his school uniform already. Lily shied away from the three boys and didn't respond, instead looking down at her feet. _

"_What's your name?" the boy named James asked._

_Lily heard __whispers from the other two boys, but ignored them. She knew she was being incredibly shy, and rude, but she didn't know these people. _

"_Lily Evans"_

_James stood staring at her for a while, open mouthed, until his eyes met hers and he said, pointing towards the boys behind him, "These are Sirius and Remus"._

_The boy named Sirius winked at her and the one named Remus half nodded._

"_Can we ride the rest of the way to Hogwarts in here? There's no more space in the other compartments," Sirius asked. Sirius had wavy dark chestnut hair that clung to his face in the most angelic manner. Lily could tell this boy would be popular among the girls at Hogwarts, but she was too nervous to think about that right now._

_Lily nodded._

_All three of the boys sat down opposite Lily. James and the one whose name was Remus started conversing about Quidditch teams and the league._

_The one with the handsome face, Sirius, was it? Yes, well Sirius leaned over and whispered in her ear, "James thinks you're pretty"._

_Lily __was frozen in embarrassment, not knowing whether to believe this statement or not. And Sirius just smirked. _

"_He told us to come to this compartment so he could talk to you. He's a little bit in love with you," Sirius whispered again._

_Lily shook her head at Sirius fiercely. _

"_Hey, don't be getting mad at me, gorgeous, it isn't Sirius Black who's got a crush on Lily Evans"._

_Lily was very embarrassed. James hadn't heard __their conversation, had he? Petunia had never told her what to do when a boy liked you. They normally didn't talk about things like that. Petunia was always there for Lily, when Lily didn't know what to do or say. They shared almost everything._

_All of a sudden, Sirius grabbed the other boys' hand and they left the compartment together, __muttering something about, "Bathroom", and leaving Lily and James alone. They stared at each other for a minute until James spoke, "Don't be embarrassed or shy because I'm here."_

_Lily remained silent._

"_Are you from a Wizarding family?" he insisted._

_Lily shook her head._

"_So you're muggle-born?"_

_She nodded._

"_I'm a half-blood. My mom's a witch but my dad's a muggle."_

_There was yet another eerie silence._

"_Why are you so embarrassed to speak?"_

_Silence._

"_It's okay, you can tell me."_

"_No"_

"_Did Sirius wind you up about something? He's always been like that"_

"_When did you meet him?"_

"_Just now," James said, "he's nice, isn't he?"_

"_He said you were a little bit in love with me" Lily answered, glancing up at James to see his reaction._

_James' face contorted into a look of surprise, anger and then finally, disgust. He stood up __in a harsh, quick movement. _

"_I am not!"_

Lily and James had purposely ignored each other since, up until their fifth year, when their continuous fights had started. Lily wished their fights would come to a halt until after the tournament, so she could focus and try to win the place as an Auror.

She had reached the right dungeon now. Glancing around, she saw everyone was already there. She sat herself next to a girl with curly red hair who she now remembered from yesterday's introductory meeting was called Ana Stanka, and had come here with her twin brother, Ivan, from Durmstrang. Ivan was currently having a conversation with Mr. Selwyn. She noticed James in the far corner of the room, chatting with a girl who she thought was the one from Azores Institute for Magic.

"Ah, good" said Mr. Selwyn, standing up, "We are all present".

Lily watched as he unrolled the scroll that had been sitting on one of the tables. He then cleared his throat rather noisily.

"So, let's get this over with so I can quickly go get some breakfast," he said, "The first task will be held in the Quidditch pitch. There will be two or three tebos in the Quidditch pitch." Mr. Selwyn paused to let everyone take in the information.

Lily sucked in her breath. Tebos? She had read about those recently, but where?

Mr Selwyn went on; "Everyone has to try and capture one before the time of an hour runs out. Of course, there will not be enough tebos for everyone to capture, and so you must be quick. There will be one pair of students that will not be able to capture one, and therefore will not gain any points. The students with the most points awarded from the judges will be able to know what the next task is before the rest," Mr. Selwyn smiled, "and that's about it. You now have a whole week to think up of a way to capture your Tebo. Enjoy!"

There was an ominous silence and many of the other contestants shifted on their feet in discomfort. Slowly, Remi Bagot and Anne Lacroix, the students from Beauxbatons, made their way out of the room, in silence. The others seemed to follow suit, until James and Lily were left alone in the dungeon.

Lily kept still, shivering at the cold temperature, and James walked awkwardly towards her side.

"So do actually know what a Tebo is?" James asked carefully, scared to start yet another screaming match.

"Do you?" Lily sneered.

"I asked first!" James protested.

"Okay, so you don't know. That's okay. We all make mistakes sometimes."

"No, you're the one who doesn't know"

"Well- I will know so soon"

"As will I!" James announced fiercely.

"We will see" Lily interjected, in a loud, testing voice.

"Are you serious?" James asked

"Huh?"

"We're not _seriously_ fighting about who knows what a Tebo is? I know we normally fight with each other about anything whatsoever but this is just getting ridiculous."

Lily laughed. That was very true. Yet she liked the feeling of laughing along with James. It was something utterly new to her, and strangely, it felt good. Very good. But either way, she **shouldn't** be feeling like this because of that Bastard. He didn't deserve that kind of attention.

"Let's go to the library," James suggested.

Lily agreed by nodding her head awkwardly and heading for the door. She was _not_ going to make Potter think she didn't mind being around him. Not now, and not ever. Their walk to the library was mostly silent, apart from a few comments James made every now and then, to which Lily would grimace and keep on moving.

At last, they reached the Hogwarts library. The familiar scent of musty books and humid air met her nostrils and Lily couldn't help but feel safe. The library was one of the places she spent most of her time here at Hogwarts and the room had the most welcoming appearance that just made her want to stay in there forever. The bookshelves towered high and there were plump, comfortable cushions and armchairs in every corner. One of the drawbacks would be the Librarian, Ms. Prêt, a French woman who had a tendency to yell a lot.

Today the library was almost completely empty. There were four other people in it apart from Lily, James and Ms. Prêt. These were the contestants from Durmstrang, Ivan and Ana, who were huddled together in the far corner, reading some sort of book, and those from Beauxbatons, Remi and Anne, who were browsing the bookshelves and pulling books out at random.

Lily turned to face James; "Let's start by finding a book that explains what Tebo's are.

James wandered off into a far section of the library, and Lily headed for the care of magical creatures books, pulling out the ones she might need. As soon as she had enough, or, in her case, a stack of about twenty, she wobbled all the way, carrying them, to the table at which James was sitting.

James glanced up from a book he was reading, "Why so many?"

"I don't know where to start" Lily answered. She tried to sneak a peek and see what book James was reading to try and get an idea of which book from the stack to search through first. She couldn't see the title so she settled with _Magical creatures from our Modern Times_. She turned to the index page.

"What book is that, the one you're reading?" she inquired.

"None of your business" James responded curtly.

"Why? It's not some sort of porn or inappropriate content, I can see that by the cover, Potter"

"Oh really. I could have just transfigured the cover into something different"

"You don't know such magic" Lily scoffed.

"Oh? And what makes you think that?"

"You never study," Lily answered, "You don't work, and you always skip class."

"And yet I ace all my tests" James said.

"Touché. But why won't you tell me?"

"Because you don't need to know everything that is going on in every single minute of the day, Evans, when will you realize that?"

Lily wrenched the book out of his hands forcefully, before he had a chance to resist her grip. She couldn't stand being talked to like that. Flipping the book over, she saw its title, _Quidditch through the Ages_.

"What!?" she fumed, "does this have to do with TEBO'S?"

James' eyes lit up in surprise at her sudden fury, "Nothing," he said bluntly, "it's for some background reading".

"Background reading?!" she shrieked, causing the librarian and the Durmstrang twins to lift their head up in surprise, "You're making me do all the work! That is so _like_ you Potter! Great. Leave the poor girls to do everything for you, and then you take all the fame and attention like if _you_ are the one who put in all the effort!"

"Whoa, Evans, chill." Smirked James.

"Chill?!? YOU bastard are telling _me_ to CHILL? I'll show _you _how to chill!" Lily yelled, hitting him with _Loveable Creatures and More_.

"That was not loveable at all" James teased.

"Do you want me to hit you again? Is this supposed to be funny?!" Lily shrieked, aiming right for his head with _Light facts on Care of Magical Creatures_, but missing and hitting the armchair with a thunk.

"I find it very, very funny"

"SHUT your MOUTH or so help me, I will stuff a deck of wizard cards in there!" Lily yelled, "You're such a selfish, arrogant prick!"

"I think you'd find that someone else is much more so than I am. And wizard cards? I think you could do much better than that" James commented in a light, breezy tone, suppressing a smile.

"Potter, I'm warning you!" Lily yelled again, turning even **more** heads in her direction.

Ms. Prêt came thundering from behind them, "Do you SERIOUSLY think this is a way to act in my library, Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter? This is a disgrace! OUT! OUT!"

With a tiny flick of her wand, she conjured a spell so that all of their books and bags chased Lily and James out of her library, slamming the door behind them. As soon as they were outside, James was cracking up and laughing, but Lily was still fuming. Who did Potter think he WAS? And why had he made them be thrown out?

"This is your entire fault!" she fumed, "Now we wont find out what a god dammed Tebo is!"

Lily's gleaming green eyes were flaming with her own fury and her visage was murderous.

"How is-" Potter said from in between laughs, "all this-" he pointed to the library door, which remained closed, "my-"he clutched his side, "fault?"

"You were acting incredibly inappropriately!" Lily shrieked.

James laughed more, harder, at her comment, wiping tears from his eyes.

But what was Lily supposed to do now? How were they going to find a way to defeat a Tebo with the libraries help? This was useless. Lily resisted the urge to grab another book and whack Potter on the head as hard as she could.

"That's _it_, Potter," she said, "I am leaving."

She started to pick up her books, quills, and parchment and started stuffing them back in her bag as quickly as her own hands would let her. She used a weightless charm on her bag to make it lighter and flipped the bag over her shoulder. Flipping her hair behind her, ignoring the laughing Potter, she marched a way in a furious rage. As she reached the top of the staircase that winded down to the library, she heard Potters' voice, "Wait."

"Dammit Potter, what do you want _now_?" she heard her voice was tense and unforgiving.

"Will you go out with me?"

* * *

**A/N: **Cliffhanger! Oooo! Well, please review, or I may take a while to update!


	4. A Slap, A fight, a Feud

**A/N:** Heyy!! Here's the fourth chapter, I know its a little longer than my usual, hehe. But still, I like it, and I hope you do too. If you like the Remus and Heather pairing, there's a small scene here : ) I know you all say the James and Lily conflict is harsh, but dont worry, they have a very complicated relationship which is getting very interesting. Next chapter, aswell, is the first task of the contest!

Review Please!

XOXO

XxMissJacobxX

**Disclaimer:** Obviously I'm not JK Rowling. Or, at least, I hope you don't think I am. She's way better!

* * *

The second that dammed question had escaped James lips he knew it had been a horrible idea. The worst he had ever had. What had he been thinking? It wasn't that he _liked_ Lily Evans, of _course_ not, but everything had been going on so well between them all of a sudden, and she was so _funny_. She wasn't that bad as he had thought. I mean, apart from a few setbacks. But for the first time in a few years, James had felt a real, strong magnetic pull towards the girl he had loved and longed for when he was a young boy.

There was definitely something in Lily's dazzling emerald eyes that James couldn't exactly decipher. He knew it was a matter of seconds before she would start yelling and insulting him. He watched as her facial expressions contorted from the initial shock of the moment, rapidly changing to- Anger? Happiness? Terror? Confusion? He wasn't sure. But James knew he couldn't stay and wait for an answer, because it was obviously going to be a no. And James Potter did not take refusals from girls. H e never had and he never would. Not looking back, he turned, dodging a stray book on the floor and made a run for it. He wasn't sure if he what he heard was Lily call his name out, or if it was something or someone else, but honestly he didn't. He sprinted all the way to his dormitory, locking the door using a quick "Colloportus" spell with a flick of his wand. Het then fell onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow and half-banging his fist against the wall. He lay there for a while, lost in thought. He thought of the various fights he and Lily had had, and the few times were they had actually managed to be civil to each other.

There was a footstep somewhere in the room. He wasn't alone.

"Hey James?" a voice called out from the other side of the room. A different voice than he was used to hearing in here. Not Sirius', Remus' or Peter's voice, but a high pitched female-sounding voice.

He felt the bed sink in as the person who had spoken sat on the edge of his bed. He lifted his eyes almost immediately from the pillow to see who it was and found Anne's face peering at him through milky blue eyes.

"What are you doing?" he asked, surprise leaking through every inch of his voice. Had Lily sent her friend to check on him? That girl seemed to be everywhere. And with everybody. James remembered when Anne had dated Jason and Roger. James hadn't minded her relationship with Roger, but Jason, being his second oldest brother, and very close to James, hadn't made him extremely pleased.

"I saw you running up here, I was in the common room, and I decided to check and see if you were okay" she stated simply, as if it were no problem to suddenly barge into the Marauders' bedroom.

"But how- did you get in? I locked the door!"

"Secret" she chuckled, swinging her blonde hair over her shoulder. That hair was gorgeous, like Sirius always said, and the girl _was_ hot, wasn't she? She was inching towards him, and now her face was merely a few millimetres away from his. He could clearly see the few freckles on her clear, smooth skin, and her lips, hovering right above his tentatively. Should he? But James was so very sure he preferred beautiful redheads with sparkling emerald eyes…

At once, the door was blasted open with a bang, probably an _erupto_ charm, for it was swung off its hinges. It caused such an impact that Anne and James flew apart from each other and landed on different places on the floor. James' head hit the railing from Sirius' bead and James saw that Anne had had it much worse; she had been flung out towards the wall, and had crashed and slid down to the floor. A cloud of dust rose from the explosion, and it made it hard to breathe.

Coughing and spluttering because of the dust and pieces of splintered wood everywhere, James stood up gingerly to check if he had been injured. He found his left leg to be a little sore, but apart from that, he felt intact and almost the same as he had before the impact. What had it been? He inched closer to the shattered and no longer existent door, peering to be able to see through the white cloud of dust surrounding it. Was Anne going to be okay? She wasn't answering his pokes. But just then, like new found water in a drought, Lily Evans walked gracefully into the half-exploded dormitory.

"I'm sorry, Potter- about the mess I just made. But your door was locked and I couldn't open it the normal way". She grimaced, but her face was livid, and James could smell a storm coming. Yep, this was going to be a tough one.

"No problem," James replied awkwardly, "_Reparo_" he muttered soundlessly, watching the minute pieces of wood flying towards the battered and broken remains of the door and fixing themselves in place. The door, fully whole, fitted itself in the doorway and swung itself open on the newly repaired hinges.

"So- about that question-" Lily started, as she tapped her fingernails on the newly polished and perfect door, "Why did you leave running so suddenly, Potter?"

"I just was trying to…" James' voice trailed off as he stared into her furious features.

Lily took a step forwards, towards him, "Well, I thought that was the most low, cheap, revolting, despicable thing a man could ever, ever do to me!" she said, her voice rising a little, "If any other girl had been there in my shoes, they would have slapped you"

"But you're too perfect and pure for that, aren't you?" James teased.

"How dare-" Lily paused quickly, and James stopped listening. There was a sudden movement from under his bead, and a scraping of wood.

"What was that?" Lily asked, looking around.

Anna! James had almost forgotten she was there; still lying somewhere underneath his bed, before the door had been blasted open. He walked over to her grabbed her hands, helping her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "I hope that fall didn't hurt your head too much? Evans, maybe we should ask for help-"

There was no answer. Lily was standing by the doorway with her arms crossed and a cruel expression on her face.

"What is she doing here?" Lily asked. This time it was James' turn to be silent. He didn't want to answer that, because he wasn't exactly sure of the answer, either.

"_What_ is she doing here?!" Lily repeated, and James felt himself flinch away from her as he saw her anger take over her and her fists clench themselves into tight balls.

Since James still remained silent, Lily snatched Anne's shoulders and shook them lightly, so that she would wake up. Anne's eyes fluttered, opening slowly. She looked at Lily's face, then his, and around the room.

"What happened?" she said worriedly, "I was so close to kissing-" she paused, ("Who?" asked Lily) "well, James and then…" her voice trailed off as she saw Lily's face contort into a menacing look of pure liquid lava.

"WHAT?!" Lily shrieked, stepping back in muted horror, "So that's what you think of me? That I'm some girl you can just ask out, out of the blue, then turn on your heel and run away from, and run straight into the arms of her best friend?!"

That wasn't right. Not at all. But like in every single situation with Lily he made the wrong choice of words.

"I thought you wouldn't mind"

James felt the stinging, burning pain across his left cheek just a few seconds after he saw her raise her small hand. The slap was hard, rough, and damaging. James just couldn't give up so easily, though. He was, after all, a strong-willed, stubborn, arrogant Marauder.

"Bitch" he whispered, low, but audible enough for her to hear.

Lily gave him a scathing look that said she couldn't care less.

"Let's leave Anne; he's just a piece of scum".

"That's okay, I'll stay here" Anne replied warily.

"Fine!" Lily yelled, "Fine! If that's what my _best friend_ wants to do!"

She stalked off to the doorway slammed the newly repaired door with a bang. And that was that.

* * *

Heather was sitting by the Gryffindor common room fire that evening, trying to finish her transfiguration questions that were due the next day after lunch. She knew she could just wait until the break tomorrow to finish them, but Heather hated doing things last minute. And for this reason, she and Remus were the only students left in the common room tonight. It was already eleven o' clock and everyone was already in the dormitories. Remus had already finished his questions, but had come to accompany her. He looked so adorable, wearing a sleepy expression on his face, and his hair, was tousled, unlike his normal flat hairdo.

"Are you sure you don't want help?" he asked her, eyeing the various questions she had left to answer, including the essay question at the end.

"That's okay," Heather had always been very independent, and never needed help with anything much, "I can handle it."

"If you say so," Remus smiled at her, causing Heather's heart to flutter like it always did when he gave her that lopsided grin, "You don't ever need my help."

"I like doing things my own way; it's how I was raised."

Remus laughed, "I bet your first word was something like, 'me' or 'I', wasn't it?"

Heather paused writing an answer with her blue peacock feather quill and smirked, "Nope. It was plain old 'mummy' and 'daddy', sorry. Now let me concentrate."

Heather turned back to her half-written answer. She reread the question once to remember what she had been writing about. _What is the spell wand movement used to turn a fork into a Writing quill? Who invented the spell?_ Heather rested her head on Remus' shoulder and tried to remember when they had learnt this. It was certainly in the past years, since this assignment had been given so they could all have a quick recap of what they had learnt the past few years. _The spell is called the Scribblifors spell_, she wrote, _and is performed by waving the wand performing the spell in a circular movement_. No. Not circular. What was it? …_Scribblifors spell and is performed by waving the wand performing the spell in a circular movement…_ She saw Remus staring at her with a smile on his face, but she still wouldn't give in. She could do this on her own. Triangular in a clockwise movement? No, that was for the _Expulso_ charm.

"Ugh!" Heather grunted, massaging her skull.

"Do you need help?" Remus asked her, stretching his hand to see what the question was.

"No thanks, I can do it perfectly fine myself."

"I want to help you"

"No!" she barked back at Remus

"Please, Heather. You have to let others help you sometimes. What if you are in a desperate situation? You can't just expect the ones who love you to just stand aside and watch you struggle."

"I can do it all fine by myself!"

"Just let me see the question, Heather" Remus said softly, with the sweetest expression of caring on his face that made Heather just want to hold onto her precious boyfriend and not ever let go.

"Fine," she said, thrusting the crinkled paper towards him, "but don't tell me the answer, I want to think of it myself."

She watched as Remus read the question with a concentrated expression on his face. His expression brightened as he turned his head back to her. He opened his mouth, "It's not circular it's-"

Heather interrupted suddenly, "It's a circular wave in anti-clockwise, and a flick." She smiled at herself first and then smiled at Remus, "I was quicker!" she said victoriously, waving her arms around in triumph.

"That's why I'm so lucky to date the cleverest girl in the whole school."

"And the cutest," Heather added, reaching out for him with a wide grin on her face.

Remus wrapped his arms around her torso simultaneously and smiled into her chestnut brown hair as he hugged her tight. He clasped her face in his hand and kissed her on the mouth slowly. Heather felt fire everywhere he touched her, and couldn't help but add: "Oh, and don't forget that I'm the funniest too."

"Mmh" Remus stated, kissing her neck softly, leaving trails of fire all over her skin, "You better get back to studying your transfiguration soon."

"Sure," Heather said, "in a sec." She kissed him again on the lips, pushing herself so she was almost lying on top of him.

Heather Hatch and Remus Lupin spent the last two hours of the night in each others arms, paying no attention to the pile of Transfiguration questions lying on the wooden table next to them.

* * *

She was rushing up the stairs, trying to stay unnoticed. No-one would suspect anything if she kept her head down, kept quiet and kept moving.

"Why are you heading towards the dormitories?"

Stopping in mid-step, Lily recognised the voice and turned around, guiltily. If there was anyone who could guess if something was wrong, it was Heather. Grabbing the first excuse she could think of as a life support, Lily wished for good luck.

"I forgot my quills" she stammered quickly, avoiding her best friend's accusing eyes.

"But shouldn't you be in the library by now?" Heather asked, frowning slightly.

It was Tuesday, and there were three days left before the week-end. Lily still hadn't figured out _what_ a Tebo was, or how to capture it. And after the disastrous day she had had yesterday, (the guy she hated had asked her out, then he had run away before she had had the chance to answer, then her so-called best friend had been hanging around and flirting with the guy she hated, and then she had slapped the same guy) well, Lily found it a bit hard to return to that dreaded Library for the supposed "research meeting" that she had planned to go to with James. She just couldn't face being with that idiot again. But Lily couldn't bear to tell Heather that she was giving up on the Potter situation so easily. What would Heather think of her?

"I wasn't- I mean I was going to go-"

"It's something James said yesterday, right?" Heather asked. God. That girl was all-knowing.

Lily nodded, in spite of herself. Heather exhaled angrily and muttered something that sounded like 'I'm going to kill Potter' under her breath.

"Tell me, Lily," Heather wrapped her arm around her and they headed to the nearest armchair. Lily felt a bit more comforted by her friend's kindness. Heather was strong, brave, and confident, and Lily admired her very much. She was something to look up to whenever Lily wasn't feeling at her best, in moments like these.

"I slapped him," Lily confessed, grinning.

"That's great! You want me to do it again?" Heather asked with a hint of mischief on her face.

"No, that's okay. I think he's understood the fact that I want nothing to do with him anymore." Lily laughed, feeling the muscles stretch across her face, and it felt good.

Lily couldn't really imagine James and Heather in a duel or even a fight, but she was quite sure Heather would win.

"There's more, isn't there?" Heather said, smiling.

"He asked me out and then-"

She retold the whole story and all of the previous day's events as her best friend listened with a growing frown on her face.

"And Anne just stayed there?" Heather asked once Lily was done talking.

"Yes," Lily muttered angrily, "I guess she just wanted to be with him"

"How _could _she? I'll talk to her"

"Well, I'm **not**," she stated decisively, "not until she stops talking and acting like if she's Potter's new best friend."

"I'll do it," Heather said, "I have transfiguration with her this afternoon. Speaking of which, I think I should go to the study hall and finish yesterdays' transfiguration homework. Do you want to join me? You could research there."

"Sure," Lily agreed, "I can use the books I checked out yesterday from the library."

Heather frowned, "But didn't you-"

"_Before_ Potter acted like a complete idiot!"

Heather laughed, and the two best friends linked arms, heading straight for the girls' dormitories, talking and laughing as if nothing was wrong. For the moment, Lily had forgotten all the worries in her mind about James Potter, and that was all Lily needed. If only she could experience these moments every single day.

* * *

**A/N: **Too **long**? Too short? Horrible? _Disastrous_? Good? **Bad**? _Excellent_? I'll only know if you just REVIEW! :)


	5. Capturing the Tebo

**_Author's note: _**

**_Hey, sorry I took so long to post. School and stuff. This chapter is manily a filler, but the next one is really James/Lily material. For those of you waiting for the first task of the tournament, here it is! Hope you like it and again, sorry. _**

**_Enjoy! And PLEASE review =)  
_**

**_P.S. Thanks so much to Bitterbeginnigs, my personal and very favourite editor. Plus sorry about today, I was just stressed out Bb 3 _**

**Disclaimer: No, im not JK Rowling.**

* * *

**Capturing the Tebo**

James hadn't spoken to Lily since the day she had slapped him. Today, they would both be capturing a Tebo together. What was her plan? Did she even _know_ what a Tebo was?

The Great Hall was crowded, which was unusual, since it was seven o'clock in the morning. There were banners everywhere, just like the night when James and Lily had been selected to be the contestants. It all looked too cheerful and overdone.

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?!" Sirius was shouting to some passing second-years in a loud, booming voice, "The first task is today!"

"Yes, yes, we all know." Anne said soothingly, rolling her eyes as the second-years scurried away from Sirius nervously.

James piled some bacon and toast onto his plate. He never really ate much, unlike Sirius, but today he would need all the energy he could get. He wasn't nervous, _au contraire_; he liked to think he was calm and collected, focused on how he would catch the Tebo.

James had found out what a Tebo was easily.

"_I'm going to set a couple of Tebo's on you two if you don't stop!"_

"_What the hell is a Tebo?" Sirius had laughed._

_Remus had grinned, "A Tebo is a creature that you normally find-" _

Moony had mentioned Tebo's last Monday (when Sirius and Lupin were waking him up by throwing pillows at him), and after James had remembered this just last night, (knocking, his glass of orange juice in the process) he hadn't hesitated to ask his best friend all about it.

According to Remus, what James was going to be facing today was a "_black, ash-coloured warthog_," which could "_turn itself invisible and was therefore virtually impossible to catch_". Of course he'd spent all night thinking about it, rolling the thoughts around his head.

"So do you know what you'll be doing?" someone asked him from across the table.

James looked up to see the three familiar fifth years walking by. Jack, Remy and Mark were the "Marauder wanna-be's". They always followed James and the marauders everywhere, and frankly it could get a little annoying.

"Yeah, he's got it under control." Sirius answered, just in time for James to be brought back to his senses.

"Yep," James grinned warily, "I know what I'm doing."

Anne squealed and grabbed his hand quickly, "I'm sure you're going to win!"

James smiled at her, "Thanks."

Even though it came from Anne, this little sign of support was all he needed to bring his confidence levels back up to normal. He was _James Potter_. He would do fine. The whole school knew that. And so what if his plan didn't work? It was definitely a cool bout of magic. He patted the bulk in his pocket and winked at Anne. She smiled provocatively back at him.

Meanwhile, Lily, who was sitting a few seats to the left, saw their exchange and glared furiously at Anne. James didn't notice this though. He was too busy looking at his bacon. He took one more bite, and then rose from the table checking his watch.

"I've got to go over to the tents around now."

"Ooh," Anne squealed, "Good luck!"

"Yeah, good luck mate," Sirius said, patting his back, "We'll all be there cheering!"

"Remember what I told you about those creatures, James." Remus added.

"Peter and I will get us some Firewhisky for this evening. It's major party time!"

James laughed, "Thanks, Padfoot." He glanced at Lily with his most confident and striking look. "Are you coming?"

Lily nodded stiffly, stood up and hugged Heather. James waved at everyone, turned and headed to the exit of the Great Hall with Lily right on his tail. The surrounding students stood up from their breakfast chairs as he walked, watching him. It was the daily routine here at Hogwarts. A Marauder walked by, and you watched. It was the natural order of things.

James, encouraged by the enthusiasm the school had for his performance in the task, flicked his wand and sent some sparks into the air, earning some more cheers. At the doorway, a couple of more students wished him good luck. He smiled at himself for being so popular, and as he walked past a mirror he gazed at his reflection, running his hand through his messy hair.

"Why are you smiling at yourself?" Lily asked, and he suddenly realized she had been there all along. She looked satisfied somehow.

"Now you know why I call you a prick." She concluded.

They walked in silence all the way to the Quidditch pitch, where they entered the tents that had been set up for the contestants. There was no-one inside the tent yet, and so James took out the silvery bulk from his cloak pocket and rested it on one of the chairs.

"What's that?" Lily asked curiously.

"What I'm using to capture the Tebo. But that's none of your business anyway."

"But you're only allowed your wand!"

"I asked Mr. Selwyn and he said it was a special circumstance, and I could use it."

"That's _so_ you, Potter. Trick the judges with your fake smiles into letting you break the rules. At least _my_ method is going to let me win."

James smirked, "And what are you planning to do?"

Lily grimaced, "You think I'm going to tell you? There are six Tebos' to catch and eight contestants. I hardly think you're going to catch anything with that piece of cloth you've got over there, and I'm not going around giving you other options!"

James shrugged and sat down on one of the couches nearby.

"Oh, wonderful! Now we're all here." Came Mr. Selwyn's booming voice from outside the tent, and a few seconds later he and the rest of the contestants entered the tent.

James smiled at the only contestant he knew, apart from Lily. Yarra Lago was a dark skinned, tall girl with a deep exotic accent that Sirius would call "smoky-hot". She had deep chestnut eyes with occasional flecks of gold. Yarra was from The Azores Institute, she and James had hung out a couple of times this past week, when James was studying in the library alone without Lily, she planned on getting a job at Gringotts when she finished her exams. The other Azores institute student was Davi, who Yarra had known since they were small children. But however, Davi had a girlfriend and even though Yarra had confessed her attraction for Davi, she knew they could never be a couple.

Yarra came over to sit next to James as soon as he smiled at her.

"Hey," she said in that deep accent, "You ready forr today?"

"Yup," James confirmed, "You?"

"I'm nerrvous, but I'm preparred" she whispered.

Lily coughed irritably.

"So," Mr. Selwyn said, smiling at all of them, "So. I have some more information about today. The points will be as follows. First person to catch the Tebo will be awarded 600, second will get 500, 400, 300, 200, and so on. The two of you who don't catch anything will get no points."

"And of course, if you and your partner don't _both _capture a Tebo, you will lose 300 points each. Understood?"

Everyone nodded. Tension was building up in the tent as they waited for Mr. Selwyn to finish speaking.

"I must be on my way now; I have to make my way up to the judges' tent. Good luck, and remember to exit the tent and enter the Quidditch pitch once your name is called!"

"I got to go and practice my spells with Davi." Yarra said, walking over to the other side of the tent, her dark hair flowing behind her in the process.

"So, not only you ask me out, but then you run around flirting with any girl who you see? And what about Anne, anyways?"

Lily flipped her hair behind her shoulder and glared deeply into James eyes'. What was this girls' problem?

"I don't know why I asked you out. I was just acting stupidly."

Lily looked shocked.

"Stupidly?"

James laughed bitterly. Had she seriously thought he liked her? Not a chance.

"Fine," she spat, "then I guess you were just being your normal, arrogant self."

* * *

"Yarra Lago and Davi Mendes, from the Azores Institute," Mr Selwyn's voice echoed through the stands.

Lily saw James wave at Yarra as she walked out of the tent, side by side with Davi.

"And finally, we have Lily Evans and James Potter, our contestants from Hogwarts."

Lily felt the anxiety and adrenaline kicking in as she walked to the tent's doorway alongside Potter. She heard voices chanting "Potter, Potter" and a few yells of "Evans!" but most of all, raucous clapping and whooping.

Once they stepped outside, Lily was a little more reassured. The sunshine was pouring in and her death-cold cheeks were warming up. She held tightly onto her wand with her clammy hands. She let a smile spread on her lips and waved at the Gryffindor stand above. Noticing a few cages on the left of the Quidditch field, she guessed that these had belonged to the Tebo's. But where were they then?

The woman who had been talking at the Opening Feast the first day of term arrived, a broom over her shoulder. She introduced herself as Mrs. Ballston, the overseer and referee for the tournament. What shocked Lily the most was when she said that the Tebo's were already lurking around the field, invisible. Surely they wouldn't let those creatures out until the whistle was blown? This was going to be impossible for her. Hopefully her spell would work.

"Good Luck," Mrs. Ballston concluded.

Everyone kept repeating that. Lily wished they wouldn't. Yet she had no time to wish anything, because a few seconds later, the whistle was blown, and everyone set off running in different directions, leaving Lily standing in the middle, watching.

James was crouched in the far corner, muttering something under his breath. The object he had left in the tent earlier, Lily saw, whizzed towards him, and a few seconds later, he had disappeared. She heard the crowd gasp along with her. Had James really become invisible?

But she had no time to start dwelling on the idea that James owned an invisibility cloak, or that he knew charms powerful enough to turn himself invisible, because Lily had still not done anything to advance in the competition yet. And she could still hear Heather and Lupin chanting her name, wearily. They probably had expected more of her.

"Aparecium!" she yelled, pointing her wand to the right. Nothing happened, and Lily, feeling the crowd's eyes on her, tried another spell.

"Specialis Revelio!"

It wasn't going to work. She would somehow have to locate the Tebo first, and then use _Specialis Revelilo _again to make it reveal itself.

Something bumped into her, from behind, knocking her to the ground. Getting to her knees, slowly, she aimed her wand in the direction that the bump had come from.

"Specialis Revelio!" she yelled, but still, nothing happened.

Suddenly, the crowd roared louder than ever. Becoming visible again, James was standing right behind her, pointing his wand at a now visible Tebo. She assumed it was the one which had bumped into her earlier.

It was a fierce, miscoloured creature. It was trying hard to escape the grip that James had placed on it.

"And in first place, earning 600 points, is Mr. James Potter!" boomed the commentator, Remy Sullivan's voice, "Will Evans catch one too or will they both lose 300 points for not working as a team?"

Lily panicked. James was _not_ a better wizard than her.

From the corner of her eye, Lily could see Davi moving around in circles, using some spell that was turning one of the Tebos invisible. Desperate not to be last, she aimed and yelled, "Specialis Revelio!" with all her lasting strength.

**A/N: That's it for now :) Hope you liked it and SORRY, soo much, for the delay :)** PLEASE REVIEW =)


	6. James Potter can Entertain

**Heyyy! I'm back! **

**I just have to say, that I love this chapter. It is one of my best, I think, so far, and I am way too excited to share it! It took me a while to write, reread and edit, but finally, its done! I just recieved it from my editor by email a few seconds ago, and to prove how exciteed I am to share it, here it is =) Hopefully you like it. It doesn't have much James/Lily, but I wont give anymore away. The next chapter is definitely something you'll want to read also, but I am still working on it.**

**Soo, anyways, have fun reading and PLEASE review! Your reviews really make my day =)**

**And thanks to my awesome editor, who should be being payed or something, for what she is doind to contribute to the story.**

**And now I will shut up and let you read. Hehe.**

**_Disclaimer: _I am not JK Rowling, but please enjoy reading!**

**xoxo**

**MissJacob  
**

**

* * *

  
**

Tonight was one of the Marauders' biggest parties so far. The decorations were as usual: garlands of the house colours strung over the comfy chairs and fireplace. The middle of the common room had been rearranged completely, as usual. All the chairs and sofas were at the sides of the room, creating space for a dance floor. Various students were already dancing, hands in the air, their heads bobbing to the catchy beat. The only difference from their other parties was that tonight, hung above the fireplace, was a huge banner bearing James' face. Lupin had bewitched the face so that the James Potter on the banner would smile at the students passing by, winking at girls and ruffling his hair occasionally. Above the banner was another one that bore the flashing words "Potter rules" and "Potter as Champion". Confetti sprouted out of it, covering the floor with little flakes or red and gold. Everyone was having the time of his or her life.

Lily, perhaps, was the only Gryffindor there who wished she were somewhere else. The music was vexatious, and it was almost as if it were someone screaming blatantly in her ears. Was she the only one who felt it? The room was too crowded- she had no space to stretch her arms out, yet alone move. The stench of alcohol emanating from the students around her was sickening and foul. Where had the marauders' gotten all the fire whisky?

Someone bashed into Lily from the right, almost knocking her over. Lily, recovering herself, turned to see whom it was.

"Sorry…" Aubrey said, scratching his head with the cup of fire whisky he was holding, "Er… Lily, right?."

He sauntered off without even waiting for an answer.

Blinking blankly at Aubrey's head, Lily knew she had to leave, as soon as possible. This party wasn't being held to celebrate "their joined" victory, as Potter had explained to her earlier that day, once they were back in the tents after the first task had finished. No, this was just another occasion for Potter to boast about his own talents.

The marauders' were in the centre of the dance floor, and the centre of everyone's attention. Each marauder seemed busy. Potter, for one, was dancing with Anne, his arm around her waist. She was whispering things in his ear, smiling up at him and tossing her long hair. Sirius was making out with Ashley Darrow, goalkeeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Peter was talking to Shannon, Ashley's best friend. Shannon seemed very disappointed that she had ended up with Peter and not Sirius, and a pout was clearly visible on her face. Remus and Heather, on the other hand, were slow dancing, absorbed in each other's eyes.

Lily scanned the crowd for a way to escape. There seemed to be less people near the left side of the room. Pushing past the students, she manoeuvred her way towards the staircase. She noticed Potter looking her way, his eyes burning her back, but she kept walking. She was leaving. She had placed second, just behind him in the task, and she had gotten _no_ credit for it at all. Not a single _congratulations_, except from Heather. In fact, people barely remembered who she was. What was this? She was just as smart as him, but she was being ignored.

How could she be second to that arrogant, selfish, immature animal?! The tears of injustice were going to arrive soon, she could feel them welling up inside her eyes. And why couldn't these people _move_ out of her way?

She let out an angry, frustrated sigh, but no one paid attention. "_She who is disliked by the marauders', is disliked by almost everyone._" Heather had once commented.

She had finally reached the stairs. Taking deep, even breaths, Lily let herself relax. She would just have to deal with it.

"Why are you leaving?" A familiar voice called out from behind her.

Great. What did Potter want now?

"Aren't you going to stay?" He inquired. He seemed to have rushed over once he saw her leaving. Anne, Lily could see, had been left stranded by the dance floor, and was looking for him. He ran his hand through his hair, troubled.

"No," Lily answered.

"Why not? I thought you were having a great time."

"Right," Lily spit, furious, "because I love being ignored by everyone. Because if I don't remember correctly, this was supposed to be "our" victory Potter"

Her voice cracked stupidly at the word "our". She didn't want to appear hurt, so she turned her back on him and walked up the stairs towards her dormitory. Heather wouldn't be up for a while, not with the way she had been dancing with Lupin, so Lily would have lots of time to herself. That was good, she decided.

Potter didn't follow her, but returned to the party, and to an impatiently waiting Anne.

* * *

Anne was wearing a little, very tight black dress that looked like if it belonged to her younger sister. James could almost see her underwear. Normally, he would be very turned on by this, but his recent encounter with Lily was messing up his thoughts.

"Where did you go just now?" Anne asked him, tugging on his arm for an answer.

"Nowhere important." James mumbled, ruffling his hair uncertainly, "Now where was I again?"

"I remember," Anne whispered seductively in his right ear, tracing it with her fingertips, "you were going to ask me to come with you to your bedroom."

James frowned.

"No, Anne, we were dancing."

"I guess I was just wishing," Anne sighed dramatically, one hand on her forehead, "but we could go there later, right?"

"Um- I think that the guys will probably mind," James lied instantly, not knowing exactly why.

"They've never minded before," Anne said, smiling flirtatiously, "I know how James Potter likes to please girls in his dormitory."

She traced his chin with her fingertips now, reaching his mouth. She paused there.

"Who told you that?" James asked her, catching her fingers in his fist.

"Oh, spare me." Anne whispered, annoyed now, "Everyone at Hogwarts knows you, Potter. You and Sirius only like girls for one-night stands. And here I am, hottest girl in the school, and you wont even let me fool around with you!"

She was right. Anne _was_ the hottest at the school. Her billowing blonde locks and fair complexion were rated ten out of ten by Sirius. Her dancing blue eyes were so entrancing that most guys never looked away. Not to mention her perfectly sculpted body was another added bonus, too. James was passing over the simplest opportunity he could ever have to get her.

James gestured to her and himself, "So that's all this is to you? Fooling around?"

He couldn't help himself. He had to let that out.

"Yes, James Potter. I won't deny it; I'm a girl who thinks relationships are lame. But let me tell you," Anne leaned closely into him, her eyes meeting his, "you and me are the most attractive in our year. We are _meant_ for each other. Attractive people are inevitably always going to end up together. If you let me walk away now, I _know_ you'll regret it. Maybe not tomorrow, but in a few years, you will."

"What-" James started. This girl was a little over her head.

Anne pulled him close, their lips barely touching.

"And," she whispered, her warm breath on his lips, "If we went out I'm sure your popularity will soar higher than it is already. Everyone will have heard about the gorgeously handsome Quidditch captain and his hot, unavailable girlfriend."

Winking, and without waiting for his approval, she grabbed his chin and kissed him on the lips ferociously, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He heard a few wolf-whistles coming from Sirius and Peter, but James felt nothing. What was this girl to him? But on the other hand, his popularity would increase to an even larger extent…

Anne kissed his neck now, still dancing to the beat.

"She really did like you, I know it. This'll show her," Anne whispered, kissing his lips again.

"What?" James asked, as Anne paused for an uneven breath, and went straight back to kissing every place she could reach.

James pushed her away softly, with his fingertips.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing, Potter," Anne whispered, "now let's go find somewhere more private."

She enlaced her fingers in his hand, pulling him towards the staircase. As they dodged the crowds of dancing students, many called out his name and clapped him on the back. Many parted out of the way, letting Anne and James get through easier. Sirius had obviously noticed them leaving together and whooped, "Go James! Get to home base!"

James didn't pay attention to them. Once they were out of the common room and out of sight (behind a suit of armour on the stairwell), James pinned Anne against the wall by grabbing her wrists. Assuming the wrong thing, she giggled annoyingly.

"That's hot, James."

"What did you say before?" he asked, roughly.

Anne sighed in frustration now, not getting what she wanted.

"I just meant that this would show Lily." Anne closed her eyes and waited for him to bring his lips to hers. But James didn't.

"Why will this show her?" he asked again.

"Ugh!" Anne protested, "I just meant that all this time she denied liking you, but I know she always did! And I know that she'll be sorry she didn't get you before. Not once I've had you."

Anne intended that last line to come out seductively, but to James, it came out sounding completely different. Who was this girl, giving herself away to a guy who she barely knew? Normally, James was the one like this. Now, it was as if they had switched roles. It was just _wrong_.

But James was more focused on what Anne had said before that comment. Lily _liked_ him? In a sense, James was pleased. Since he had met her, he had been terribly in love with Lily. Recently, both their furious tempers had gotten in their way. James had believed, after their first serious fight last year, that Lily hated him. Perhaps there was still a little glint of hope left, hope that he had given up a year ago…

"What's with the face?" Anne asked him, looking up at him innocently.

James stared blankly back at her. She scowled slightly.

"This is about Lily, isn't it?"

James did not know how to reply. He wasn't used to hot girls being mad at him. But this might have something to do with the fact that normally, he didn't refuse girls.

"Tell me!" Anne half-yelled, half-growled, lowering her shriek once some students, a girl and a boy, exited the common room party together, heading for the stairs.

They noticed James, waved, and left.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else." He suggested.

"No!"

Anne started unbuttoning his shirt. She didn't hesitate, but kissed him on the lips so he couldn't complain. Holding his Gryffindor tie in one hand, she dragged James into the shadows at the end of the corridor, where no one would notice them.

Once James' shirt was left abandoned on the floor, she moved on to his pants. James didn't want this; he didn't want this girl doing this with him, especially in this location. But with girls, he could never refuse. He would have to try-

"Anne…"

"Shh." She said, her finger at her lips. "This must be quiet. Don't want people hearing…"

Anne kissed his chest, working her way down. She took her own shirt off, kissing his neck with passion. Meanwhile, James was fighting the urge to stay. He knew this was not what he wanted, it was wrong. And finally, once Anne revealed her lace bra, James found the strength he had been looking for. It was there, deep inside him. All he had to do was remember Lily's face before she'd left the party earlier on. Her torn, broken voice, trying to hide the pain…

"Stop." James said, "I don't want this!"

Anne smiled, disbelieving. "Shush, James Potter."

James pushed her, like earlier this evening, but with his muscles from Quidditch Chaser practice. She almost toppled over.

"You're a whore," he whispered, "you've hurt Lily by trying to get me. You'll do anything for what you want."

Anne gasped. Her blue eyes, entrancing just a minute ago, masking themselves into a suspicious glare. Her rage and beauty mixed together made her glare look more than the average menace. She looked livid.

"I knew it!" She shrieked, not caring who heard now. "This was about Lily all along! I can't believe you like that- that unattractive, geeky, boring girl! She has _no life!_"

Couldn't she keep her voice _down_? She was attracting unwanted attention, and a few students from the party next door were coming out to see what the commotion was. Many snickered, seeing James in boxer shorts and Anne standing a metre away from him, also half-naked and in expensive, black lingerie.

"I'm sorry, Anne, but I like her. She is at least four times a better person than you are, and she is not _boring_. She's no _whore,_ (he pronounced this world louder than usual so the watching crowd, which had increased in size, could hear) like you. She has not lost that dignity yet."

Anne stood silenced. She looked annoyingly upset, and grabbed one of his hands.

"We could still make this work-" she pleaded, in a way-too-see-through voice.

James gathered his clothes and put them all back on quickly, the crowd laughing at his quick movements. He was never going to live this public embarrassment down. He heard Sirius woo again and cringed. Now his friends were watching this, too? Great.

"I'm leaving." He told her, grabbing his shoes (which were lying on the ground by her still too-short dress). "I would advise you to do the same. Maybe you should get dressed."

He eyed her clothes, scattered around the staircase and corridor. The crowd whistled and laughed, muttering erupting between them.

"And maybe next time, Anne, you should consider wearing something that is not as tight as that dress you had back there." He winked, now liking the attention he was getting. "It isn't so flattering on you, and honestly, it could have belonged to your nine year old sister."

The watching crowd of Gryffindor Students laughed loudly at his last comment.

And as he left, climbing the staircase to the dormitories, bounding from foot to foot, cheers erupted. Yes, he may have just lived the most embarrassing moment of his whole life at Hogwarts, and yes, he had just turned down the hottest girl imaginable. But as the chants of his name grew louder and louder, we could be sure of one thing: James Potter sure knew how to entertain.

* * *

**Ahhh! Please review and I will MAKE SURE to finish the next chapter by next weekend! =)**

**Thanks  
**


	7. Almostkisses and Proposal Plans

_Hey! Here's the next chapter of Trapped in Your Arms. I wrote it over my skiing holidays, when I was sitting in my room after long days of sport :) It is OFFICIALLY my longest chapter yet! Over 3,000 words, and I am incredibly proud of it. So, enjoy, and please review, it makes my day!  
_

_XxMissJacobsxX_

_P.S. Vicki, I'M sorry I didn't run this by you first, but I know you're on vacation and probably need a break ;) _

_Disclaimer: Nein, ich bin nicht die JK Rowling (No, I am not JK Rowling)  
_

* * *

**2:26 AM**

Lily sat in her dormitory, reviewing her Potions essay on the truth serum for the fourth time this evening. An assortment of old library books, big, small, thick and thin, were scattered around her on the ebony desk. The various quills and bottles of ink also present on its surface gave it an inadequate appearance. The untidiness was ruining her concentration, and conceivably, ruining her spell-checking and correcting skills. Once she finished re-reading the essay, she thought, making a quick mental note, she would make sure to tidy the room. And after that, maybe she could re-read her essay again, and perhaps after _that_, tidy her wardrobe, which had been looking jumbled this past week. If anything, she would do whatever she could to keep busy. It was when she was occupied that her mind concentrated on the task, and rarely mingled on the matters at hand. She hated silence above anything. The absence of sound was horrible, and even the faint noise of a quill scratching on parchment was good enough to distract her from her own thoughts.

A faint knock sounded on the dormitory door. It was almost inaudible- but still there. Lily paused scratching out a word with her quill and kept still. She didn't want anyone to think she was here. A few motionless seconds passed, slowly. As if the passer-by had been convinced, she heard retreating footsteps. _Good_. Lily went back to correcting her essay. It was probably just a student from the Marauders' victory party downstairs, stumbling drunk, trying to find their own dormitory.

She grumbled a little too loudly, tapping her quill on the desk. These parties could get the Gryffindor house into a lot of trouble with McGonagall-

"I knew it!" A voice cried triumphantly from outside the door, "Open up, Evans! I heard that quill!"

Lily realized who it was. She sat still, her arms resting on the desk, and her eyes gently closed. She would keep pretending to not be here, if that was what would keep him away. Because she was _not_ in the mood to make friendly bouts of conversation with Potter. She had had enough of him, and his selfishness.

"I heard you," Potter said from the other side of the door, "I know you're in there!"

Lily forced her lips into a straight line, trying to keep calm and quiet while Potter knocked harshly on the wooden door. She heard as Potter sighed in exasperation. Maybe he'd just figure, after a few attempts at talking to no one, that her grumbling was just a figment of his imagination.

But he still didn't give up.

"Dammit, Evans!" Potter yelled, banging harder on the door. The door itself was shaking uncontrollably, and without notice, one of the bolts from the hinges broke off, flying off to the right, under Heathers' bed.

"I need to talk to you! Stop being so fucking stubborn!"

Lily couldn't help but be annoyed. She quickly muttered "reparo" under her breath, fixing the door in a soft click. So Potter was going to be arrogant, selfish, completely ruin her day, flirt with her ex-best friend, and insult her? And now, on top of all of that, he had the _nerve_ of coming to her dormitory and almost breaking the door in attempt to enter?

"Potter!" She barked, her hands balling up in fists, "Stop damaging my door, you idiot!"

The banging on her door stopped slowly.

"Lily," James breathed quietly from the other side of the door, "I need to talk to you"

"I don't feel like talking," Lily said, her tone showing no emotion. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hurting her feelings when ignoring her at the party. She wouldn't, either, give him the satisfaction of knowing the shiver that run down her spine when he had used her first name for the first time since Third Year.

A long, awkward silence followed. Lily heard Potter shift his weight from side to side, heard him nervously ruffle his hair and adjust his glasses.

"Okay," the intake of Potters' breath was loud, "Lily."

Just like before, another strange, mystifying shiver ran down her back. Her name, coming from him, was certainly something. It sounded different, in a way that Lily couldn't describe quite exactly.

"You and I know you're not exactly the easiest person to talk to." James continued, "Lily, please make this a little easier for me."

Lily stood still, and trailed the contour of the wooden door slowly with her fingertips. She had never really seen this side of James Potter. She had personally witnessed his hatred, his selfishness, his hurtful comments and his ability to boast about those precious Quidditch skills. She had been present when his temper, his jealousy, and his bitterness had taken control of him. She had observed him picking on other students, showing off his grades, flirting with half the girls at this school in an instant, and dumping his short-term girlfriends just as quick.

The soft, gentle voice Potter was using was new. He may have seduced girls before, but this wasn't the same. He spoke as if he were a small boy who was ashamed, trying to make things right. But _James Potter?_ This was barely believable. If it weren't for the effect his using her name had on her, Lily would already be laughing at him.

"Well," Potter said slowly, and Lily heard him resting his back against the door and sliding down into a crossed-legged position, "then you'll have to just listen."

"There's nothing I can really do to make you go away?"

"Don't think so," he said.

Lily sighed, sitting against the door as well.

"Go on," she said, giving in.

She closed her eyes. She'd get through this. She waited for him to begin whatever it was. A short pause followed as Potter struggled for words.

"I'm… sorry."

Lily was a little shocked, but kept quiet, for she knew not exactly how to respond to such a bold statement. Sensing her loss for words, he continued.

"I realized once you left the party how badly I'd been acting. And- I talked to the guys. We all want you to come downstairs again. We could still make the party for both of us. Would you like that?" He paused, "Look, I know you're mad but I really-"

Lily was curt in her reply. There was _no_ way she'd return to the godforsaken place.

"No, thank you."

"Why not? Is it because of me?"

"I mean, if you suddenly disappeared from your party and then came back with me and declared it _our _party, I think your girlfriend may mind a bit"

He grumbled.

"Anne's not my girlfriend."

"Oh, of course, Potter," Lily used a mock-sarcastic voice, "How could I have made such a terrible mistake? I meant your little _whore-friend_."

"Lily, it's not like that-"

"Yes, it is. She just wants to sleep with you."

"But just now-"

"She wants to have sex with all you Potters!"

"But-"

Could he just not see it? The girl was _horrible_. She was the worst. And he thought they could all be friends at the same time? No chance. He did not want to hear all she had to say. That arrogant, selfish, show-off…

And yet another part of her wondered why he was still here. Why, if his intentions of coming were to tell her to come downstairs, and seeing she would not follow him, had he not scarpered? Perhaps he'd stay until she followed him downstairs. Lily would give him a hundred more reasons for herself to stay up here.

Making her mind up, she stood up and unlocked the door of the dormitory. Potter was caught by surprise, for he had been leaning against the door. He fell down and swore, scrambling to his feet. Once he turned to face her (while ruffling his hair in the process), Lily spoke.

"She used to be _my_ best friend, Potter. I know what all her intentions with you are."

He smirked to himself. _What _was wrong with the bastard? Then, unexpectedly, he grabbed her wrists in with his own hands. Lily was caught by surprise and let out a faint, "Oh". It felt good, in a strange way, having him so near. _But,_ she scolded herself, _look who this is, silly girl!_ At that, she aimed a kick at his shin. The impact was hard. She heard him groan and curse loudly, but still did not let go of her.

"Let."

She aimed another kick at his shin, just a little harder.

"Me."

She kicked again.

"Go!"

Lily decided to try a different resort to get him off. She struggled with her own wrists to throw the hands off. But his grip was as hard as steel. His mouth broke out into a weak smile.

"Amazed by my strength yet?"

Lily rolled her eyes. She would kick him until he let her go, she decided firmly.

"Lily Evans!" he said half-shouted, at once annoyed.

Another strange, pleasurable shiver ran down her spine as he used her name. She wouldn't have any of this; she wouldn't give in to James Potter's charm so easily. Not caring what she hit, she kicked forwards and hit his calf.

"Just listen to me for a second, and please stop with the pointless kicking."

Lily halted her brusque movements momentarily.

"Me and Anne had a fight. I called her a whore. She won't want me anymore, so you have no excuse. Now will you come downstairs to our party?"

But Lily couldn't think straight, because Potter was even more nerve-rackingly close than before. He was close enough for her to smell the soap from his last shave, the mixed scent of deodorant and sweat from practice, and see the faint creases underneath his eyes from staying up too late at night.

Strangely, Lily wasn't repulsed at the sight. The boy, who had once, a few hours ago, been her enemy, was now… she didn't quite know how to put it. Her friend? Her ally? Her…? _No_, _don't even think that_ she thought firmly.

He was leaning closer to her. Tilting his head to the right, he brought his hand to her shoulder, causing yet another wave of shivers to run through her. Lily's usually strong will could not fight the handsome boy staring back at her through liquid-chocolate brown eyes. She leaned in a little further, her eyes closing involuntarily. It was a different side of her that had emerged. They inched closer…

"Lily," Potter muttered, his warm breath tingling on her lips, "we need to get downstairs."

She felt the absence of his lips on hers almost intoxicating at that moment. There was nothing she wanted more, oddly enough. A frantic little voice in the side of her head was firing off disconcerting thoughts; _I wanted to kiss James Potter,_ it said, _I almost kissed James Potter! _

But James Potter let go of her at once, like if she were something to horrid to hold. He walked to the door in a few strides, hand immediately at his hair. Lily stayed a few seconds where she was. That almost-kiss had been one of the most sexually charged moments she had had with a boy, and she was still tingling from head to toe, even though nothing had happened. Had he meant to kiss her? But why had he let go of her so quickly? Maybe because he'd remembered how much they hated each other? Because she had had bad breath?

Lily quickly masked her flustered face, taking over the control of her body that had been lost a few moments ago. She was suddenly curious, and blurted the question out, trying to hide the awkward silence that had followed the almost-kiss.

"Can I ask you something, out of curiosity? How did you get up here? I thought that there were spells against males entering the females' sleeping areas."

Potter laughed, breaking the tension a little.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I don't need books to learn, Evans"

"Okay," she agreed awkwardly, "Let's go."

"One more thing, to satisfy my curiosity" Potter said from the doorway, facing her once more, "What are we, now?"

Lily frowned. That was the very same question she had been thinking of. She gave him the answer that she would have wanted to hear.

"We're currently negotiating a short truce, aren't we?"

* * *

**3:02 AM**

The party was still going, despite the lateness of the hour. About half of the students were gone, but many were still drinking the last of the beer and whisky. A few were dancing, but mostly the drunk students were sitting around the couches, talking and some even sleeping. Sirius and Peters' dates were gone, and Remus, having seen James arrive, let Heather go back to Lily, and walked over to him.

Once Lily was gone from his side, James felt a short sigh of relief pass through him. The scene in her dormitory was not something he was proud of. He remembered wanting Lily right there, the sudden, agonizing urge to be close to this girl he had often been wounded by, this girl he had _hated_. Anne's words about his reputation had been right, he did only look for the physical aspects in a relationship. However, being Lily, he wanted to do things right. As if he really cared for her _pureness_. It was strange, he thought, what girls could do to a guy.

Now she was gone, and he found it easier to think. He grabbed a Butterbeer from the table on his left, drinking a huge gulp in one go.

"Hey Padfoot!" James said, clapping his best friend on the shoulder. He had to try and act normal, as if nothing major had happened, because Lily and Heather were talking in whispers nearby.

Sirius grinned widely at his best friend. He made his way to a couch nearby, and lay on it. He turned to face James again, his hair tousled.

"Some performance out in the corridor with Anne tonight, mate."

James remembered the embarrassment and the cheers of his name. He half grumbled, half grinned back.

"That was certainly something that will have the whole school talking," Peter said with a cup of fire whisky in his hand.

"I didn't get to see," Lupin protested, "I wish I'd been there."

Sirius laughed extremely loudly, "It was hilarious," he commented, apparently drunk, "But I'm still quite blank on _why_ James would turn down hottest girl numero uno."

"What did you call her?" James asked, smirking.

"Hottie number one- _numero uno_…"

"I think he's had a lot to drink tonight," Remus commented, "After his date left him…"

"That was because she wasn't very good, if you know what I mean," Sirius said, his words slurry.

James was a little bemused by his best friends' state.

"He didn't?" James asked, letting out another laugh.

"He did," Peter replied.

"Where-" James started to ask.

"The empty transfiguration classroom," Peter said, and James whistled while Remus laughed, "They were gone for about twenty minutes."

"Damn, that was quick, Padfoot!" James said.

"He told us all before he started drinking the firewhisky," Remus said, "And where were you during that time, Prongs?"

"Well," James admitted, ruffling his jet-black hair, "Me and Anne fought about Lily. So I went up to Lily's dormitory."

A round of awed gasps followed. James glanced around to see if Lily had heard, but she was nowhere to be seen. Thank Merlin for that!

"Well? Did you two fight again?" Remus asked, leaning closer with interest clearly visible on his face.

"You are such a gossip girl, Moony," Sirius called from the couch he was lying on.

"Shut up!"

"You shut-" Sirius began, but was snoozing a few seconds later. Remus laughed, and threw a pillow at him. James didn't want to have to retell the story again tomorrow. Sirius received the blow, and opened his eyes the tiniest amount.

"Listening," he mumbled.

"We made a truce," he said, purposely ignoring the almost-kiss, "to be civil to each other in public from now on, until the YGW tournament ends. I also told her we all wanted her to come back down to the party, so if she says thank you, play along."

Remus nodded, "Do you even think you guys can keep up with this… erm- truce?"

James shrugged casually, "We'll see."

"Wow, no kinky, erotic action happened in her room? Goodnight now," Sirius mumbled, closing his eyes again. He was fast asleep, his face gaining a rarely peaceful look.

Remus chuckled to himself, "I think I like him better when he's asleep. Much less annoying."

"I guess," James grinned at his friend, "What now?"

Peter yawned, "I'm heading upstairs. 'Night"

"Goodnight."

Peter headed for the stairs and left James and Remus alone, hovering near a very fast asleep Sirius.

"I have something to show you, Prongs," he said, taking out a small black box from his pocket. The box was old and dusty, with gold lace everywhere.

"Think she'll like it? I bought it from the antique store in Diagon Alley. Spent all my savings,"

Whoa. Remus was _proposing _to Heather? That was a little early, wasn't it?

"Moony, seriously? Marriage?"

"We've been together for almost four years now, and I think it's appropriate. I love her."

"But think about it, mate," James said quietly, as to not wake up Sirius, "your whole life will be ruined."

Remus winced at the last two words. James continued;

"No more pickups or Saturday night hookers, no flirting with other girls! Just commitment!"

Who would want to tie themselves down so early in life?

Remus smiled wearily at his friend, "I knew you and Sirius would think of it that way. But I really do love her, and I can see myself still with her in thirty or forty year's time."

"Moony, you're such a softy."

Remus sighed, grabbing a drink off the table. He looked at James pitifully and took a swig of the cup he was now holding.

"Trust me, sooner or later you will understand what I'm talking about. It may not happen in the way you expected it, but it will."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!  
Now pleaseeeeee review! Its just a little button to click! **


	8. Irate Anger and Sexy Plans

Walking to Transfiguration that morning, Lilly Evans was, for once, in what one would call a fairly good mood. The weather outside was beautiful, the sun leaving shimmers on the fresh dew and reflecting a kaleidoscope of colors. Heather was walking by her side, and although Lilly hadn't spoken to Anne since the night she had found her so-called best friend in James' room, Lilly felt at peace with the world. Well, mostly at peace with Potter. This truce of theirs had definitely lifted a heavy weight off her shoulders, and she felt light and free. Although she would never admit it, she hated the fights and the anger – it was tiring and she had had enough of it. She was sure that her friends had gone through their fair share of angst having to listen to all the fighting too.

"What are we going to do about Anne?" Heather asked Lilly, breaking her friends' train of thought, "She's been a horrible friend, but I feel bad for her. She was horribly embarrassed after the party-"

Lilly knew Anne had been the talk of the school after being rejected and publicly humiliated by a certain Maurauder two nights ago. She saw it as the perfect payback, and she suppressed a discrete smile as Heather talked of her friends' misfortunes. But it was true; the poor girl was being gossiped about wickedly. And it wasn't as if Lilly had a right to be upset with her. Anne hadn't technically done anything wrong. If anything, Lilly had overreacted at seeing her in James' room.

Anne had always been a flirt, and Lilly had always been uncomfortable with this. It wasn't that she liked the boys that Anne pursued, but Lilly didn't like the way in which she always got all the attention of a room so flawlessly. Growing up, Lilly would be talking to a boy she fancied, having a good time, and Anne would walk in- and Lilly no longer had a shot. Anne loved Lilly and didn't take the attention away purposefully; it was just in her nature. At times Lilly wished she were outgoing and carefree like her friend, but she couldn't seem to work on these attributes when competing with Anne.

Anne had the right to date whoever she wanted; it wasn't her fault she was attracted to James Potter. After all, Lilly understood the charm the boy had on most girls. Ever since their almost-kiss, she'd found herself lusting after him during the potions lessons they shared. She was ashamed to admit that she now belonged to the group of girls who longed to run their hands through his tousled hair, to stare into his deep brown eyes and watch that perfect smile of his.

Lilly had told Heather of this, confused with her own sudden change of heart for the boy. Heather had chuckled at her best friend, throwing her an all-knowing look. So when James and Sirius passed by them in the corridor that morning on the way to Transfiguration, Heather deliberately stopped to talk to Sirius, leaving Lilly and James standing next to each other, not knowing much what to say.

"What class do you have next, Evans?" James asked nonchalantly, resting his arm against a stone pillar nearby.

"Transfiguration," Lilly answered politely, not knowing much else to add.

James ran his hand through his messy, jet-black hair and laughed lightly at her awkwardness. Didn't he know the effect of such a casual move on her? _How can you even be thinking about him that way?! _Lilly scolded herself. She couldn't help it.

"Why so polite?" he asked in a posh tone, "Is Miss Lilly Evans scared to be in a truce with me?"

He got the expected reaction from the fiery redhead as she folded her arms and retorted quickly, "Potter, you will find that is not the case. I'm merely finding it hard to adjust from previously wanting to tear your eyes out, to this new situation."

"Ah, I see," James stepped towards Lilly, his eyes amused and alight in reaction to her short temper, "and what, may I ask, is this new situation?"

Lilly felt that once again, James Potter, much like last night, was too close. His breath tickled her lips and taunted her, springing her imagination to life. She could, if she wanted, lean in and kiss him right here, right now. But then again, it was _Potter_. So perhaps not. Although her body was telling her otherwise...

"Our truce," she said, her voice almost shaking. It was hard to concentrate with him so near. Her mind was fluttering. Why did Potter have to be so distracting? So infuriating? Didn't he see that this wasn't what she wanted? She couldn't be attracted to such an obtuse, ill-mannered, spoilt boy!

She turned her head to see what was happening around her. Sirius and Heather, she saw, were still talking about whatever they had to discuss further up among the hall. Students milled about, heading to class. She had no chance to escape.

Lilly felt James reach for her hand and hold it in his. Confused at his action, she turned to look at him again, their faces tantalizingly close, with a quizzical look on her face. She didn't pull away, however. His skin was rough, most likely from all the Quidditch injuries, but strong. With his other hand, James traced patterns on her arm, sending shivers up Lilly's spine. Not thinking, she squeezed his hand, immediately realizing her involuntary action and pulling it away, flustered. She blushed, very, very, angry with Potter yet again.

Sirius laughed in the background, and waved goodbye to Heather. James smirked at Lilly, looking her in the eyes.

"We find out about the second task tomorrow. Think you're ready to spend some more time with me?" he taunted, leaning close to her and lowering his voice. "I think you most certainly are, Miss Evans," he whispered.

Lilly stepped back and glared at Potter. "Ecstatic," she said in mock sarcasm, now extremely annoyed.

"Meet me tonight at eight at the astrology tower" Potter winked and left an irate Lilly on her way to Transfiguration.

* * *

"That's all he said?" Heather asked for what seemed like the fourth time, "Where did that even come from? The nerve of him! Ordering you around like he owns the school!"

Lilly sat with her friend on her four-poster bed, brushing her hair. She felt frustrated, aggravated, excited, and confused. The astrology tower was the most famous make out spot at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Lilly was sure that Potter expected to get some action from her. It wasn't as if they would be studying up there. She wasn't strictly opposed to the idea of getting with Potter- but Lilly never did things like this. Not only, but she did not like being told what to do. At all. And if Potter wanted something from her, he was going to have to work much harder than that.

"I hate the way Potter thinks he can just get any girl," Lilly spat bitterly, "I mean- its not fair."

Heather grabbed one of Lilly's muggle magazines, using it to prop her feet up so she could give herself a pedicure. "I know what you mean," she added, "its not that he's bad looking but," she grabbed the box of nail varnishes, "he needs to deflate his head a little".

Lilly nodded, glad that Heather shared her opinion. They both agreed that Lilly should not turn up to Potters strange invitation. But it was still tempting… Lilly pushed the thought far from her head. She wasn't going to give in to him like every single other girl in this school. She was above that.

The door to the dormitory creaked open, both Lilly and Heather looking up to see who it was. Anne stood by the door, her hair up in a messy bun, a few books and quills in her hands. Even ruffled and messy, she looked good. She had an uncomfortable look upon her face, and she approached her two friends shyly.

"I'm really sorry," she admitted carefully, looking from Heather to Lilly, hoping their expressions would give away some clues as to how they felt. "I know I screwed up by choosing Potter over you Lilly, I don't know why I did it, but I miss you guys so much-" Anne bit her lip, and she looked genuinely sad, "I guess I'm just hoping Ill be given a second chance?" She looked inquisitively from one girl to the other.

Lilly glanced at Heather and then back at Anne. She wanted to forgive her friend, she had missed her, but she didn't want to look so weak.

"Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top," Anne pleaded, "Pleaseeee. I started working on my transfiguration homework last night and I was so lost, and it reminded me of how you guys always help me with it and I miss you!"

"Anne, you betrayed both of us and I don't think a simple apology fixes things," Heather said in a flat voice, "We have other problems to deal with!"

"What problems?" Anne asked, "Fill me in!"

Lilly thought twice about filling her friend in, but gave in and told Anne about how James had almost kissed her, how he and her had made a truce, and how now he expected her to go to the astrology tower and get it on or something. Anne grimaced through the retelling of the night of the party (apologizing again, for her behavior) and her eyes lit up when Lilly mentioned the astrology tower.

"So, not that you've earned my trust again or anything, or that I've forgiven you, but as you can see I have bigger things to deal with than your apologies," Lilly concluded.

"I think I have an idea for your problem, Lilly." Anne smiled deviously, biting her nail and looking at her friend.

Heather spoke up for the first time since Lilly had recounted the past events to her friend.

"No, we don't want your plans," Heather said starkly.

"Trust me on this one," Anne smiled, "James won't know what hit him."

Lilly liked the sound of that.

And Anne did have a very colorful creativity.

* * *

An hour or so later, Heather and Anne stepped back to observe their creation: Lilly, previously dressed in her Hogwarts uniform, looked stunning in a tightly fitted plum dress and a pair of Anne's black heels. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and her lips were a luxurious red.

"You look so hot!" Anne gushed, clapping her hands excitedly. Heather nodded in agreement.

Lilly smiled at her two friends. She was glad they were reunited again. "Thank you," she mumbled. She felt a little uncomfortable in such a tight dress, but, if this was the way to get her payback at Potter, she was up for it a hundred percent.

"Now go!" Anne smacked Lilly's bum, "Make us proud!"

Lilly laughed. Heather joined in, gleefully.

"You better tell us all about it when you're back! All the details!"

Nodding, Lilly gave one last smile to her two friends and made her way for the Astrology Tower.


End file.
